Molded garment



M r h 5, 1969 B. LIEBOWITZ ETAL MOLDED GARMENT Sheet Filed April 1, 1966nnvQ FIG. 4

March 25, 1969 Filed April 1. 1966 a. LIEBOWITZ ETAL 3,434,478

MOLDED GARMENT Sheet 2 012 INVENTOR A; 7 un/'1 11.11004 ud d 21" fa/1h?United States Patent Ofice 3,434,478 Patented Mar. 25, 1969 US. Cl.128-463 12 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A fabric adapted to bemolded to form a shaped, shaperetaining body, of which fabric garmentsor portions of wearing apparel may be formed such as brassieres, girdlesand the like, comprises two sets of warp ends and one set of filleryarns, one of the sets of warp ends being composed of relatively softhighly flexible yarns arranged transverse to the filler yarns andforming a complete fabric therewith, and the other of the sets of warpends being composed of substantially fully drawn thermoplasticmonofilaments which while flexible are substantially stiffer than theyarns of the one set of warp ends.

The present invention relates to molded garments and portions thereof,for instance to brassieres, girdles and the like which include moldedportions, and, in addition thereto, the present invention relates to afabric used for producing such molded garments and the like, as well asto a process for making the molded garment or garment portion.

In practically all brassieres made up to now, the shape of the cup wasobtained by cutting certain fabric parts to appropriate shape, andstitching these parts together so as to obtain the cup-like curvedsurfaces required in this case. Recently, several attempts were made toobtain these cup-like shapes by molding rather than by cutting andstitching suitably shaped parts together.

In these attempts, nylon yarns or yarns of more or less similar materialwere used, which were not fully drawn or prestretched, so that the yarnsdid not have their normal strength and elastic properties prior to themolding operation. It was assumed that the subsequent stretching whichwould be caused by deformation of the fabric during molding the sameinto cup-shape, would complete the stretching of the yarn and therebywould give to the nylon its full elastic properties. However, inwhatever way it was attempted to carry out the molding operationdescribed above, it failed to produce the necessary improvement in thetensile properties of the yarn and thus, these processes did not lead tosuccess.

It should be noted that the process of the present invcntion isparticularly advantageous in connection with making brassiere cups;however, the method is by no means limited thereto since it isfrequently desirable to form shape-retaining fabric portions for otherpurposes, such as for instance girdles, or even for purposes which arenot necessarily connected with producing a piece of wearing apparel.

The strength and stability of nylon and most other synthetic,particularly thermoplastic fibers, depends very greatly on the degree towhich they were stretched during the drawing and finishing operations.In order to develop full strength and stability, nylon must be drawn outto a very considerable extent. As pointed out above, the prior artmoldable nylon fabrics were woven not of fully drawn and stabilizedyarns but rather of partially drawn yarns.

When the fabric was then clamped by its edges and drawn into a hot mold,the fibers were stretched and, while being formed into shape, weretherefore correspondingly strengthened at the same time.

However, because of the particular shape of brassiere cups, it isevident that by proceeding in this manner, certain portions of the cup,for instance the apex thereof, would be stretched much more than theedges which might scarcely be stretched at all. Consequently, thoseareas of the cup which were not fully drawn during the molding operationcontinued to be composed of only partially stabilized nylon yarns.

The mechanical strength, stability, shrinkage, etc., of the edgeportions of the cup differed greatly from those parts of the brassierecup which were subjected to more intensive stretching during the moldingoperation. Furthermore, those areas which were highly stretched werealso thinned out during the stretching process and the entire weaveitself was stretched and distorted.

Consequently, the fabric at the apex of the brassiere cup would turn outto be thinner and of a more open weave. This whole combination ofcircumstances obviously is most undesirable. It is not surprisingtherefore that this type of moldable fabric has led to disappointingresults and products of inferior quality.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to overcome theabove-discussed difliculties and disadvantages.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a moldedgarment or garment portion, for instance a brassiere, girdle or thelike, which will possess the desired strength and resiliency but,nevertheless, will be shaperetaining.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a methodfor producing such molded, shaperetaining bodies, consisting essentiallyof a fabric.

It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a fabricwhich is adapted to be molded in such a manner as to be shape-retainingand not subject to the above-discussed disadvantages.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from a further reading of the description and of the appendedclaims.

With the above and other objects in view, the present inventioncontemplates in a fabric adapted to be molded and particularly adaptedfor use in garments such as brassieres, girdles and the like, incombination, two sets of warp ends and one set of filler yarns, one ofthe sets of warp ends being composed of relatively soft highly flexibleyarns woven with the filler yarns and forming a complete fabrictherewith, and the other of the sets of warp ends being composed ofmonofilament yarns which while flexible are substantially stiffer thanthe yarns of the one set of warp ends, the other set of warp endsconsisting of substantially fully drawn thermoplastic monofilaments.

The present invention is also concerned with an article of wearingapparel which includes a shape-retaining molded portion consistingessentially of a fabric which comprises two sets of warp ends and oneset of filler yarns, one of the sets of warp ends being composed ofrelatively soft highly flexible yarns woven with the filler yarns andforming a complete fabric therewith, and the other of the sets of warpends being composed of monofilament yarns which while flexible aresubstantially stiffer than the yarns of the one set of warp ends, theother set of warp ends consisting of substantially fully drawnthermoplastic monofilaments.

Preferably, the other set of warp ends in the abovedcscribed fabric isparallel to the one set of warp ends therein, and preferably the otherset of warp ends will consist of substantially fully drawn nylonmonofilaments having a diameter of between about 10 and 20 mils and mostpreferably of about 12 mils.

It is also within the scope of the present invention to provide a methodof producing a molded shape-retaining article of wearing apparel,comprising the step of subjecting to hot molding substantially withoutstretching a fabric consisting essentially of two sets of warp ends andone set of filler yarns, one of the sets of warp ends being composed ofrelatively soft highly flexible multiiilament yarns woven with thefiller yarns and forming a complete fabric therewith, and the other ofthe sets of warp ends being composed of thermoplastic, substantiallyfully drawn monofilament yarns which while flexible are substantiallystiffer than the yarns of the one set of the warp ends, so as to form ofthe fabric a molded shaped body which is shape-retaining due to theincorporation therein of the thermoplastic monofilaments which were insubstantially fully drawn condition prior to the hot molding of thefabric.

Recognizing the defects which appear to be inherent in goods made ofpartially stabilized yarns, the present invention proposes that the warpends are to be fully stabilized. In other Words, according to thepresent invention, monofilaments form one group of warp ends and thesemonofilaments are fully drawn or stretched and stabilized. For thisreason, the fabric does not depend upon further stretching in a hot moldfor its shaping and strength. To the contrary, if the fabric of thepresent invention is held rigidly by pins or otherwise and molded insuch a manner that it is forced to stretch in order to conform to theshape of the mold, it will tend to tear before it stretches muchfurther. If, however, in accordance with the present invention, thefabric is not pinned or rigidly clamped but only clamped lightly or heldby spring hooks during the molding operation, then the fabric is capableof being molded without appreciable stretching since during the moldingoperation additional fabric from outside the mold will be drawn into themold to the extent to which the deformation of the fabric in the moldrequires. As a matter of fact, the fabric accommodates itself to theshape demanded by the mold by an appreciable amount of compression inthe neighborhood of the periphery of a bra cup, for example, instead ofstretching significantly in the neighborhood of the apex. This shiftfrom stretching at the apex to compression at the periphery would notordinarily be anticipated. This is an important aspect for making ourfabric moldable despite the fact that its monofils are fully drawn andstabilized. The moldability of our fabric has been fully demonstrated bymany experiments. Thus, the nylon monofilaments will be heated andbecause of their thermoplastic nature assume the shape of the moldwithout appreciable stretching. When the shaped fabric is cooled down,the molded shape is retained and at the same time this is achievedwithout thinning the individual fibers and also while maintaining thecloseness of the weave uniformly (except for some compression in theneighborhood of the periphery) over the whole molded and shaped areasuch as the cup of a brassiere.

It is thus possible according to the present invention, due to using athus stabilized fabric structure, to obtain a practically completelystable stiffening fabric which may be shaped or molded without thinningdown the fiber and without noticeably distorting the weave ordiminishing the strength and changing laundry shrinkage characteristicsof fully stabilized fabrics, for instance nylon fabrics.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for theinvention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. Theinvention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method ofoperation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, willbe best understood from the following description of specifi embodimentswhen read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of the fabric of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a transverse section of the fabric of FIG. 1:

FIG. 3 shows in a transverse sectional view another embodiment of afabric according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of a mold with a fabric according to thepresent invention being molded therein;

FIG. 5 is a schematic elevational cross sectional view taken along lineV-V of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a shape-retaining brassiere cup according tothe present invention, looking towards the apex thereof; and

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view taken along line VIIVII of FIG. 6.

Referring now to the drawing, particularly to FIG. 1, it will be seenthat the fabric is formed of relatively stiff yarns W which are fullystretched monofilaments, such as thermoplastic monofilaments having adiameter of between about 10 and 20 mils, preferably nylon monofilamentshaving a diameter of about 12 mils. The set of relatively soft flexibleyarns is indicated as W and the two sets of warp ends are woven withfiller yarns F so as to form the fabric indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2.These filler yarns may be any of a large variety of conventional yarns.We have very successfully molded fabric made with ordinary nylonmultifilament yarn as well as cotton yarn in the filler; the latter hasthe advantage of greater moisture absorptivity.

It will be noted that in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, the stifferfully stretched monofllament yarns W are uniformly distributed among thesofter, more flexible yarns W The yarns W preferably have substantiallythe same shrinkage properties as the yarns W Instead of uniformlydistributing the stiffer substantially fully stretched or drawnmonofilament yarns W these yarns may be distributed in groups, asindicated diagrammatically in FIG. 3.

Referring now to the molding process, particularly as illustrated inFIGS. 47, it will be seen in FIG. 4, that the fabric 21 is insertedbetween a female mold member 22 and a male mold member 23 (shown in FIG.5). The outwardly extending portions of the fabric are held by frictionclamps 24 which are sufficiently loose to permit the fabric to be drawninto the mold to the extent required for being shaped, therebysubstantially avoiding any stretching of the fabric. The friction clamps24 may be replaced by other suitable holding elements known to thoseskilled in the art, such as tension or spring hooks or the like.

The finished molded brassiere cup formed in this manner is illustratedin FIGS. 6 and 7. It will be seen that the brassiere cup consists of themolded fabric portion 31 and a plastic edging 32 which surrounds theedge of the molded fabric portion and will prevent the relatively rigidmonofilaments of the warp from poking through and possibly scratchingthe wearer. Preferably, the plastic edging 32 is covered by a fabriccover 33.

Preferably, the fabric of the present invention will be a thick weavetype of fabric with two sets of Warp ends, whereby the yarns of one setof warp ends will be conventional and relatively soft and flexible,while the yarns of the other set of warp ends, while flexible, will besubstantially stiffer than the yarns of the one set of warp ends andwill consist of the above described prestretched or fully drawnthermoplastic monofilaments, preferably nylon. The filling yarns mayalso be of a conventional material and may consist in the same way asthe set of warp ends, of relatively soft flexible yarns, and these yarnsmay be, for example, synthetics like rayon, nylon, polyester, etc., ornatural fibers such as cotton or silk. The two sets of warp ends areunited at appropriate intervals by the filler yarns, as is indicateddiagrammatically in the sectional view of FIG. 2.

The fact that the stiffer warp ends are predrawn monofilaments is ofgreat significance. The reinforcing cords which were used according tothe prior art for stiffening fabrics were substantially thicker than theother yarns and did present great problems when woven into the fabrics.It is for this reason that it has been previously suggested to use thereinforcing cords as part of the filler since in this way the shed ofwarp yarns can be handled in the usual manner and it is only necessaryto beat the heavier cords into the shed with the reeds so that noparticular problem is encountered. However, where it comes to arrangingthe reinforcing yarns parallel to the warp yarns, it is, of course,impractical to include such heavier yarns in a shed which must becriss-crossed back and forth by the heddle frames.

According to the present invention, the stiffer warp ends are requiredto be fully drawn monofilaments. It is characteristic of such filamentsthat they form a solid one-piece length of material and are not made ofa plurality of fibers which must be twisted together, for example.Therefore, the necessary stiffness can be achieved with monofilamentyarns which are of a surprisingly small diameter and as a resultthereof, it is possible for the first time, insofar as applicants areaware, to incorporate such yarns into the fabric by means of the filleryarns themselves. In other words, when monofilaments of the typedescribed herein form the stiffer yarns, they can form part of the warpwithout causing any particular inconvience in the weaving operations.

By slidably gripping exposed edges of the fabric while the same is beingmolded, so that the fabric can be drawn into the mold to meet the needsof the molding operation with a minimum of further stretching, suchfabric can then be molded to the desired shape. The result of themolding operation carried out in this manner with the fabric describedabove at a suitable elevated temperature is, in the case of a brassiere,a cup shape of desired curvature, in which the fabric is additionallystretched only very little. This can be demonstrated by measuring thelength between various points of the surface of the fabric before andafter the molding operation. It has been found that these lengths arechanged only by very small percentage, generally not more than about dueto the molding operation. The fabric takes the desired shape under theheat and pressure of the molding operation without creasing or bunchingto any noticeable extent even though the fabric is somewhat compressedin the neighborhood of the periphery. The thus shaped cup or the likewill hold the shape given to it in the molding operation largely due tothe permanence of the form or shape given to the fully drawn nylonmonofilaments which are heat set during the operation.

If, on the other hand, the exposed edges of the fabric were pinned orotherwise rigidly held during the molding, then the fabric would tearduring the molding operation. It is important for the success of thepresently described process that the stretching of the fabric due tomolding is minimal.

The following example is given as illustrative only without, however,limiting the invention to the specific details of the example.

Example A typical fabric is a plain weave ground or base fabric with amonofilament nylon overlaid in a loosely woven interlaced weave. Thewarp comprises two yarns, namely, a first yarn of 70 denier,34-filament, S-turn semi-dull nylon; and a second yarn which consists offully drawn 12-mil monofilament nylon. The filling yarn is 70 denier,34-filament, zero twist semi-dull nylon. The reed width is 51.16 inches,25 dents reeded 4 and 6 ends per dent; average reed sley is 17.35; 88picks.

The fabric is placed in the pre-heated contoured mold (note FIGS. 4 and5) which is maintained at a temperature of approximately 350 F. The moldis closed for a period of approximately 30 seconds to heat, shape andset the fabric in the desired molded contour. To minimize creasing orstretching as the mold is closed on the fabric, the fabric is held byadjustable friction or spring clamps so that it moves smoothly into themold without excessive stretching or creasing.

After the mold is opened, the shaped fabric is removed and permitted tocool. The correct edge outline of the cup is then cut out, preferablywith a die cutter or by heat cutting to fuse the ends of themonofilaments in place, and/or the edge may be bound with a softplastic, to cover the raw edges and prebent the monofilaments frompoking through. It is frequently preferred to cover the soft plasticcover with a suitable fabric which will then form the outer face of theedge.

Preferably, the edge is bound by sewing to it a nylon tape together witha 2-4 mil thick vinyl tape, the nylon tape forming the outer face of theedge and the vinyl tape serving to prevent the monofilaments frompiercing the binding.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or twoor more together, may also find a useful application in other types offabrics or garments differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in abrassiere cup and a method of producing the same, it is not intended tobe limited to the details shown, since various modifications andstructural changes may be made without departing in any way from thespirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofthe present invention that others can by applying current knowledgereadily adapt it for various applications without omitting featuresthat, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essentialcharacteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this inventionand, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to becomprehended Within the meaning and range of equivalence of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured Letters Patent is:

1. In a fabric adapted to be molded to form a shaped, shape-retainingbody and particularly adapted for use in garments such as brassieres,girdles and the like, in comlbination, two sets of warp ends and one setof [filler yarns, one of said sets of warp ends being composed ofrelatively soft highly flexible yarns arranged transverse to said filleryarns and forming a complete fabric therewith, and the other of saidsets of warp ends being composed of substantially fully drawnthermoplastic monofilaments which while flexible are substantiallystiffer than the yarns of said one set of warp ends.

2. A fabric as defined in claim 1, wherein said fabric is a wovenfabric.

3. A fabric as defined in claim 2, wherein said other set of warp endsis parallel to said one set of warp ends and is distributed over oneface of said fabric and joined thereto by said filler yarns. i

4. A fabric as defined in claim 2, wherein said other set of warp endsis uniformly distributed throughout said fabric.

5. A fabric as defined in claim 2, wherein said other set of warp endsis distributed in groups throughout said fabric.

6. A fabric as defined in claim 2, wherein said other set of warp endsconsists of substantially fully drawn nylon monofilaments.

7. A fabric as defined in claim 6, wherein said substantially fullydrawn nylon monofilaments have a diameter of about 20 mils.

8. A fabric as defined in claim 1, wherein said other set of warp endsconsists of substantially fully drawn thermoplastic monofilaments havingdiameters of between about 10 and 12 mils.

9. An article of wearing apparel, comprising a molded, shaped,shape-retaining body consisting essentially of a fabric which comprisestwo sets of warp ends and one set of filler yarns, one of said sets ofwarp ends being composed of relatively soft highly flexible yarns wovenwith said filler yarns and forming a complete fabric therewith, and theother of said sets of warp ends being composed of monofilament yarnswhich while flexible are substantially stiffer than the yarns of saidone set of warp ends, said other set of warp ends consisting ofsubstantially fully drawn thermoplastic monofilaments.

10'. An article of wearing apparel as de fined in claim 9,

wherein said other set of Warp ends is parallelto said one set of warpends and consists of substanti nylon monofilaments, and wherein said oneset of warp ends comprises nylon multifilarnents.

11. An article ofwearing apparel as defined in claim 9,

wherein said article is a blrassiere. 1 12. An article'of Wearingapparel as de wherein said article is a girdle.

ally fully drawn fined in claim 9,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS ADE-LEM. EAGER, Primary Examiner.

Us. 01. X.R.

